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Phytolacca Americana

Phytolaccaceae (mulberry family)

This powerful medicinal plant has a battery of regional names: pokeweed, scoke, poocan, garget, pigeon berry, pigeon-blood, poke-salat, cancer root, and cancer jalap. His Latin name, Phytolacca, refers to the family to which it belongs: phytowhat does plant mean and lake, that is, a crimson tint; american speaks for itself, identifying the species as native. This widely spread perennial grows from Maine to Florida and Mexico, and throughout the West except the Dakotas.

Mature poke plants, multi-branched with ruby ​​red stems and stems in late summer, can grow up to ten feet tall. Earlier, small flowers appear on long needles, often curved or sloping. Each small petal-like greenish-white sepal ripens into a fleshy purple-black berry. After the frost slaughter happens, it dies back to the ground.

The genus of Poke encompasses about twenty-five species of coarse grasses, shrubs, and tree-like perennials native to the tropics and warm regions. The Brazilian species, Phytolacca dioica, is an evergreen tree that can grow up to twenty meters tall and develop a thick trunk. Two species from East Asia, P. acinosa and P. esculenta, are cultivated as ornamental and herbaceous plants. American poke is one of our strongest and most durable herbs, with many historical and contemporary uses.

Traditional uses:

The American Indians used all parts of the plants in their specific seasons of optimal strength. Throughout the winter, even throughout the year, the roots, often huge, fresh or dry, were beaten and catapulted onto wounds, tumors, bruises, rheumatic swellings and breast pain. Poke root was vital in many cancer and diabetes remedies.

Poke Root tea was used to treat rheumatism, arthritis, and other joint diseases; the warm tea was useful as a skin wash to treat bruises, swellings, and sprains. Many believed that this spring tonic was also a powerful preventive medicine.

Spring buds of American poke provided delicious asparagus-like greens for our ancestors, and still are for us. When they are only six inches tall, they are easily gathered and cooked like a herb. The cooking water should boil and pour at least once to remove bitter and dark elements.

The alternate, oval, simple leaves of the plant exude bright green ink when crushed or rubbed. Crushed blackberries produce one of the brightest magenta colors in nature. An exciting range of inks and dyes comes from some of the poke species, but they are unfortunately not resistant to the sun. Unless over-dyed, colors will fade.

Modern uses:

Contemporary herbalists view poke with respect and caution. A push root tincture is used as a blood cleanser in very small amounts and is also taken to relieve lymphatic congestion and swollen lymph nodes. American pokeweed contains numerous alkaloids and complex chemical compounds, some of which are quite harmful to human systems. A carmine herb mitogen is being studied in anti-tumor immunity research, as it appears to stimulate cell transformation. Poke root is used in various herbal cancer remedies, including essiac and floressence.

Bonds:

The whole plant is toxic. Never use it during pregnancy. The juice of the carmine plant can cause dermatitis in very sensitive people.

Growth and propagation needs:

Poke grows easily from seed and root cuttings. The main effort that is needed is to keep this plant under control in the garden, where it will grow like a shrub, rising six to ten feet tall from the mature roots.

Companions:

Poke grows well with almost everything, especially yarrow and strawberry. It seems to enhance the growth of pumpkins.

Take the carmine or cokum berries, squeeze their juice, add it to the same amount of cream and simmer until the consistency of an ointment is obtained. If used in the early stages of the disease [cancer], it is a safe and easy cure. It should be rubbed in every six to eight hours until it has any effect.

– John Williams, a “celebrated Indian physician”, in his 1828 book, New and valuable recipes for the cure of many diseases.

For sprains and bruises, a push root was boiled and crushed as a poultice.

– David Williams, Oneida herbalist, Oneidatown, 1912